Renewable energy keeps growing Apel Steel installs a 50 kilowatt solar system
Kyle Baggett, Cullman Electric Cooperative’s vice president of engineering and operations, speaks to guests at the Apel Steel solar project grand opening ceremony.
8 SEPTEMBER 2013
Apel Steel Corporation has installed a 50 kilowatt solar system at its facility in Cullman in partnership with TVA Green Power Providers program. The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June to celebrate the project’s completion. The solar panels should produce between 6,000 to 7,000 kilowatt hours per month, according to Cullman EC’s vice president of engineering and operations Kyle Baggett. “Cullman Electric Cooperative is proud to be working with TVA, members like Apel Steel and innovators like ACE Solar to participate in the Green Power Providers program,” Baggett said. Through TVA’s Green Power Providers program, TVA will purchase the electricity for the next 20 years. Ronnie Apel, owner of Apel Steel, estimated
the solar system will generate more than $300,000 worth of electricity over that time, earning his business more than $26,000. Baggett said Cullman EC has 12 solar installations systemwide, ranging in size from 1.3 kW to 125 kW for a total of 404 kW of capacity — enough to power around 70 houses on a sunny day. “These installations not only help the owner and operators of the system reduce the electrical cost of their overall operations cost, but they also move some generation capacity closer to the load centers served by the Cooperative and TVA,” Baggett said. “That allows us to delay upgrades in the power system that may otherwise be necessary to transport the electricity from the generation plants to the end user.” A
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